With the number of people living in Western Australia expected to double within three decades, dealing with the pressures of a growing population is a challenge for legislators and developers, as Marsha Jacobs reports.
Home ownership has long been touted as the ‘great Australian dream’ but it’s an aspiration beyond the reach of many in some Australian capital cities as property prices reach unprecedented levels.
In Perth, however, the dream is still alive, with housing among the most affordable in the country.
But sprawling development and the resultant new urban fringes has increased the cost of providing the necessary infrastructure and services to cater for these new communities.
By 2031, Perth’s population is expected to be more than 2.2 million, more than double that of 2001.
The obvious question, therefore, is where are these people going to live? And with the State Government suggesting that each lot on the urban fringe costs taxpayers $45,000, further stretching the fringe suburbs is clearly not the best answer.
In response to concerns about urban sprawl, the Government earlier this year released its Network City strategy, a planning policy that limits urban sprawl through increasing density in existing suburbs.
Network City calls for 60 per cent urban infill to cater for growth, with 40 per cent on the fringes.
Transit-oriented developments are seen as one way of helping to sustainably achieve this growth.
Listed developer Peet and Company is undertaking such a development at Wellard, however Peet managing director Warwick Hemsley said the State Government was not strong enough at implementing policies to encourage things like TOD.
“The Government needs to be more prescriptive in trying to enforce planning policies because if it is left to local government it is extremely difficult for it to take place,” he said.
“We need to implement the Network City concept with more vigour and we need to take advantage of higher density along all of the transportation routes we have, and help make Perth a better place for people.
“Try and get density in all the traditional nodes we have, including the city itself.
“That will slow down the rate of fringe development – it will only slow it a bit, but without a more prescriptive and top-down approach from state government, I find it difficult to see it happening at the rate we would need.”
Professor of Transport Studies at Curtin University, Dr Fred Affleck, is a strong advocate of the TOD model. At the recent WA Business News boardroom lunch, however, Dr Affleck said he believed the planning apparatus was not sufficient to enable the densifications proposed in Network City.
“I think if you look at Perth from the perspective of an outsider, the very low density across Perth, the rapid expansion of the outer limits of Perth’s metropolitan development is something that needs to be gotten under control,” he said.
“And with the rapidly rising costs of transport, particularly motor transport, there is a rationale for trying to increase the density of real estate development.
“At this stage, the State Government’s view is that 60 per cent of population growth should happen in the existing boundaries, and 40 per cent at the fringe. The 60 per cent implies a huge densification of existing areas and a shifting of employment outside its traditional locations in the industrial areas and in the city.
“I don’t think the planning apparatus is there to make that happen yet.
“Everywhere I go there is a view that the regulations we have are too prescriptive and not sufficiently flexible and navigable so that there are pathways for people who want to develop things like TOD.”
Professor Affleck said it took up to three times as long to put TOD developments in place as it did to develop conventional broadacre suburbs.
One effect of increasing density is the creation of more apartment-style living. And while places such as Melbourne and Sydney have substantial residential apartment markets, Perth’s apartment market has been a little slower to pick up.
Satterley Property Group managing director and chief executive Nigel Satterley told the luncheon forum that all research his group had undertaken indicated people wanted a house on a block where they could raise a family.
“The mindset in Western Australia is very simple. History will show that when you buy a home on land the land appreciates, the house depreciates,” Mr Satterley said.
“Young people know that when they get to 60, the government isn’t going to be able to look after them, and the only way is going to be through their own super fund. And they know the land is the key to providing wealth down the track.
“You can’t change that mindset.
“Historically, Perth is built on five things: Emu Export beer, the West Australian newspaper, a brick-and-tile house on the coast, our television station Channel 7 and the West Coast Eagles. That is the culture of Perth, and it is hard to get people to shift from that.”
As WA’s natural environment and lifestyle continues to attract overseas migrants and those moving west from elsewhere in Australia, coastal living and coastal access issues are becoming increasingly important in the development framework, with various interests competing to be heard by local and state authorities.
Partner in ATA Environmental, Dr Paul van der Moezel, said WA’s natural environment was a controlling element, and in some ways urban sprawl was necessary.
“People want to live near the coast, and we have a long coastline,” he told the forum.
“We can’t move further east because of the Darling Scarp and the water catchments; we can’t build between Wanneroo and City of Swan because we have the Gnangara mound; and southwards can’t build between Rockingham and Armadale because we have the Jandakot mound.
“To a large degree we need to sprawl if we want to live by the coast, and the environment is dictating where we can live.”
City of Wanneroo Deputy Mayor Sam Salpietro said if the Government was serious about stopping sprawl, it should change land zonings to reflect that.
“The reality is that, regardless of state government policy, people want to live on the coast, and the State Government fully realises that,” Mr Salpietro said.
“At the City of Wanneroo we have 37 kilometres of coastline and most of it is undeveloped, but most of it is zoned urban. If the State Government is serious about curtailing sprawl, rezone it as rural and pay some compensation to people for that.”
A further challenge to increasing density in certain areas is resistance from existing residents, who often don’t want densification of the areas they live in.
Hegney Property Group’s Stewart Kestel said the State Government and local governments often delivered competing messages.
“People want higher density, just not next to them,” Mr Kestel said.
“The problem is, it has to be next to someone. I think there are real opportunities for local government and the State Government to seize on this.
“High density works best within close proximity to shops and schools and transport. It doesn’t have to be a blanket policy throughout a suburb; it can be specific allotments or road networks that will work.”
